About

I am a journalist, analyst, and author, specialising in Palestine and Israel. Over the last decade, I have had some 400 articles published by a variety of media outlets, including Al Jazeera, The Guardian’s Comment is free, The Independent, New Statesman, Middle East Monitor, Middle East Eye, Newsweek Middle East, The National (UAE), Christian Science Monitor, The Electronic Intifada, The Arab Weekly, and others. I have appeared as a guest expert on Al Jazeera English, TRT World, and the Islam Channel, as well as LBC, BBC World Service, and ABC (Australia).

I have been visiting Palestine/Israel since 2003, for visits ranging from a week to three months. I have previously worked as a researcher and writer for the Journal of Palestine Studies (University of California Press), and done editing work for the Doha-based Arab Centre for Research and Policy Studies. I am a contributor for Al-Shabaka: the Palestinian policy network.

I am the author of three books on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: ‘Israeli Apartheid: A Beginner’s Guide’ (Pluto Press, 2009, second ed. 2014), with a foreword by former UN special rapporteur John Dugard; ‘Palestinians in Israel: Segregation, Discrimination and Democracy’ (Pluto Press, 2012), with a foreword by Member of Knesset Haneen Zoabi; and ‘The 2014 Gaza War: 21 Questions & Answers’ (self-published eBook, 2016), with a foreword by Exeter-based Israeli historian Ilan Pappe.

My fourth book, ‘Cracks in the Wall: Beyond Apartheid in Palestine/Israel’, will be published in May 2018.

Over the last eight years, I have spoken at events in the Houses of Parliament (including the launch of my first book), at Amnesty International UK, and dozens of conferences and student-organised lectures on campuses in the UK and North America – including SOAS, LSE, UCL, Cambridge, Oxford, Leeds, Columbia (New York), Princeton, University of California, and University of Toronto.

Praise for Ben’s books

‘Israeli Apartheid: A Beginner’s Guide’

This book deals rationally and cogently with a topic that almost always generates considerable heat even just with book titles. The reader may not agree with everything that White asserts but it is a highly commendable effort to throw light on a fraught subject.Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate

This book provides one of the best introductions to the Israel/Palestine conflict.. It also makes by far the most compelling case for ‘peace with justice-not apartheid’.Nur Masalha, Reader in Religion and Politics, St Mary’s University College

Never compromising on the facts, its narrative both enlightens and inspires. If you want to learn about Palestine, start here.Karma Nabulsi, Oxford University

‘Palestinians in Israel: Segregation Discrimination and Democracy’

Ben White offers a ‘wholistic’ view of the Palestine/Israel problem – then goes beyond it to point towards its only just and hopeful solution. A significant and timely contribution to the political discourse so necessary today.Ahdaf Soueif, author of Booker Prize-shortlisted The Map of Love

With surgical precision, a wealth of research, and sharp analytical intellect, Ben White provides us with an outstanding record of a long forgotten yet integral part of the indigenous people of Palestine: the Palestinian citizens of Israel.Omar Barghouti, human rights activist & author of ‘Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions’

With an issue so suffocated by political conflict, rarely does one find an author so fearless and honest in his approach. Ben’s work is essential reading for those looking to understand the source of Palestinian suffering and its continuation to this day.Andy Slaughter, Labour MP for Hammersmith

What they say about Ben

Ben White is passionate about justice for all the people in Palestine. Through his books, articles and speaking he has helped to educate and inform people all over the world about realities that Palestinians face every day. White is a careful researcher, whose meticulous attention to detail and sources, means that his work is valuable not only to general readers but to scholars as well.Ali Abunimah, co-founder of Electronic Intifada and author of ‘One Country’

Ben White is an insightful, judicious, and bold commentator. He delves beyond the glib platitudes of those in power to unveil and analyse systematic patterns of injustice. Surely this is the role of journalism today.Riz Ahmed, actor and musician

Ben White has worked tirelessly to highlight the dire plight of the Palestinian people oppressed under an enduring occupation and those who face systematic discrimination in Israel.Chris Doyle, Director of the Council for Arab British Understanding

I gladly wrote a foreword for Ben White’s Israeli Apartheid: A Beginners Guide. He is a writer who is determined to present a fair picture of the troubling situation in Palestine.John Dugard, former UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories

Ben White is a tireless and trenchant advocate for the human rights of Palestinians. You may not agree with him, you may find his advocacy unforgiving in its relentless focus on achieving justice for the Palestinians. But to see antisemitic motives behind any of Ben’s writing or activism is entirely mischievous and unfounded. In the few years I have been following Ben’s work, I have found nothing to support accusations of antisemitism levelled against him. What he writes, out of deep concern for human rights for all, often makes uncomfortable reading. But people who disagree with him should engage with his analyses and arguments and not smear him with utterly false charges of Jew hatred.Antony Lerman, former Director of the Institute for Jewish Policy Research and founding editor of Antisemitism World Report 1992-98

Ben White is an important writer. He describes in authoritative detail the actions – and crimes – of the state of Israel. False accusations of anti-semitism are the customary response of Zionists when they are called to account. When Israel is finally put in the dock it will be thanks to people like Ben White.Ken Loach

As a Jewish Israeli opposed to the state’s policies of occupation and discrimination, I know what it’s like to be smeared with claims I am a ‘traitor’ or ’self-hating Jew’. The accusation of antisemitism is also used to attack those who, like Ben, are opposed to injustice and inequality. We appreciate his work, and his focus on obtaining an inclusive, just solution for all people in this land.Dr. Anat Matar

I am an Israeli Jewish citizen. I have been active in the campaign against my government’s apartheid policies for many years. I am also the descendant of Holocaust survivors from Europe. My activism is based, to a large extent, on the universal lessons which should be drawn from this dark episode of history. I have been following Ben White’s work, and have been in touch with him for quite some time. When apologists for Israel’s shameful, racist and criminal policies attempt to smear Ben as an anti-Semite, I regard their attempt as an action which is aimed at me as well. Such allegations are preposterous and mean. They also amount to cynical abuse of Jewish history. I regard Ben as a friend, a decent man and an excellent activist driven by concern for universal principles of human rights. I am thankful for having people like him abroad, joining hands with Israeli peace and human rights activists. I will continue to stand by him and his important work.Ofer Neiman, West Jerusalem

Ben White is a very fine, professional journalist deeply concerned, as all should be, with human rights regardless of fear or favour.John Pilger, film maker, journalist, author

Ben White is a serious journalist with a deep commitment to human rights and justice for the Palestinians. He is also a well-informed and uncompromising critic of Israeli policies towards the Palestinians.Avi Shlaim

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Ben White

Ben White is a freelance journalist, writer and activist, specialising in Palestine/Israel. He has been visiting the region since 2003 and his articles have been widely published in the likes of The Guardian’s Comment is free, Al Jazeera, Electronic Intifada, New Statesman, Salon, Christian Science Monitor, Middle East International, Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, and others.